London Business School MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines

London Business School boasts one of the most diverse student bodies, with 90% of its 425 students hailing from a total of 69 countries outside of England. If you are looking for a globally focused MBA program in a city bursting with culture, finance, and industry, then LBS is certainly a program to consider. My tips are below in blue.

Essay 1. What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)

This is a mainstay in the LBS application, a straightforward career goals question. You need to demonstrate in the first paragraph that you know what you would like to be doing after the MBA, and it had better excite LBS. They are looking for applicants with a global outlook, committed to challenging the status quo and making an impact on business.

In general, I find that this essay needs to apply one-third of the word limit to defining your goal, one-third to summarizing what you have gained from your career and how it has prepared you for your goals, and one-third to how the London Business School education will complement that experience to propel you to your goals. Please note: 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 are guidelines, not rigid rules.

Essay 2. (Optional)

Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (500 words)

LBS has allotted additional space for this essay this year, which is a subtle hint that they are open to hearing more from applicants here. I always advocate writing the optional essay, but in this case I am highly recommending it since the one required essay will leave you little space to share details about your past experiences.

In particular, examples of your leadership, changing the status quo, making an impact, or navigating cultural differences would make great use of this space if you didn’t have room for them in the required essay.

All application deadlines are 17:00 UK time. All Admissions Committee decisions are communicated via email and will be sent on the relevant deadline day by 23:30pm UK time.

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***

Jennifer Bloom has been a consultant with Accepted for 19 years and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW). She is an expert at crafting application materials that truly differentiate you from the rest of the driven applicant pool. If you would like help with your application, Jennifer can suggest a number of options that work with any budget. Want Jennifer to help you get accepted? Click here!